A Hero's Legacy
by Lori- Mischief's Brat
Summary: Stephanie, Pep, Laurie, Marie, Luke, Leah, and Thalia. Names, so what? So...Rogers, Stark, Laufeyson, Banner, Barton-Romanoff, and Odinson. Oldest to youngest, Steph's 16, Talia's 10 and the rest are in there somewhere...3:45 am Fri. Jan 13, Lauries 13th b-day, and the day the world went dark. Have fun saving the world, and Earth's Mightiest Heroes! And then there's Jamie...
1. Greetings People of Earth!

A Hero's Legacy

Semi-Prologue

We should probably tell you about the black veil that was surrounding the earth, that seems like the best place to begin. I mean, sure you might wonder who is telling the story, but I don't care.

semaN era adnik tnatropmi, sselnu er'uoy gnieb desahc. nehT syawla eil. I eil yawyna hguoht. oS, ym eman? ll'uoY evah ot sseug.

Sorry about that, we can only get her to talk in dead languages. So getting her to write in english is a huge accomplishment, even it it's a little confusing.

We need to introduce ourselves though guys. That's not fair, how can they trust us if they don't know who we are?

Do they need our trust? We may have to kill them later after all. Besides trust is a game of debts and favors. What have they ever done for us?

I think you're all idiots, and I can't believe ya'll have blathered - thats a good word - on for so long without even introducing us!

I'll do it!

I'm Thalia Odinson,

This is Stephanie Rogers,

Hello!

Laurie Laufeyson,

snoitatulaS!

Pep...Pep Stark,

You got so close to dying just then!

Luke and Leah Barton-Romanoff,

Hi,

Go Away!

And Marie Banner,

… where'd she go? She's six feet in a book! She's DEAD!? Don't be such a Kleptomaniac. Oh, good! You're ALIVE! Kleptomaniac's steal, they take things, literally . . . Nothing? Don't even try she won't get it. I get it … jinx? Don't start this again! You're TWINS! I don't think Laurie gets this game. You may end up literally jinxed. So now she's the kleptomaniac?

Come On! STOP! Please!


	2. Red, White, and Who?

**Stephanie: Chapter 1 Red, White and Who?**

Stephanie Rogers here. It started out normally, well, as normal as life ever gets in Avengers Tower. That morning, I got dressed as usual, white t-shirt and sneakers with blue jeans and a red jacket, and went for breakfast. I didn't mind that it was 3:45 a.m. Being an insomniac, breakfast is basically whenever I get hungry. A slightly superhuman metabolism does require slightly more food, slightly more often.

I decided to watch some TV for minute, and was just witnessing one of my favorite Dr. Who episodes OF ALL TIME, "Let's Kill Hitler" when something really weird happened.

Is it creepy that I know how my friends sleep? I don't watch them, but I do see them.

Leah stays curled up, like a cat or a spring. Like she'd pounce any second. Luke sleeps sitting up, with his eyes open. HIM I watch, since he sits like that 99% of the time, it's creepy.

Thalia somehow ends up with her head and feet switched, blankets all over, and pillows strewn enough, her bed starts out made and she's a peaceful sleeper. How she does it I'll never know.

Marie usually ends up face-first on her worktable, or in whatever book she was writing/reading. Those glasses must be indestructible.

Sleeping is the only thing Pep does normally. Until, she starts sleepwalking or talking in her sleep. That was SCARY the first time.

I don't know if this is true, but I think the reason Laurie's magic goes crazy at night is because her insanity is concocting some new form of lucid, torturous reality. I'd feel bad for her, but she's always pranking me and shows, um … " homicidal tendencies." Anyway… Yeah, that was kind of random….hold on. Where was I? Oh yes Dr. Who.

Something wasn't right. I don't get tired, but suddenly I felt … fuzzy? Little details started to disappear, from my mind and the room. Like whether I had shut the door or not. And suddenly, all color vanished. I went looking for a mirror and when I found it I looked in it. The face looking back at me was strange, dirty-blonde hair directly to the shoulders, and piercing blue eyes. I couldn't remember my name, I didn't recognize myself! Just as suddenly as the moment had come it was gone and I knew who I was. The face looking back at me was mine and it was familiar. I was perfectly fine.

Wait, you wanna hear the weirdest thing? The TV started playing Mulan, but it started with the song "Reflections." (Who is that girl I see? Staring straight, back at me? Why is my reflection someone I don't know?) Pep, one more joke about how "you knew it", and I swear...

I went looking for my dad, but I couldn't find him anywhere. Thor,Katelyn,Pepper, Tony, Jane, Bruce, MY DAD, Elizabeth, Agent Barton, Natasha, and even Loki ( I was that desperate for reassurance that I existed) all just seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Whatever sicko had done this had taken JARVIS offline. And the lights. Lucky for me I have a photographic memory,or I would have broken my neck. I'd have healed of course, but not as quickly as dad.

Despite my mental map, I found myself in an unfamiliar hallway. I walked away from that hallway and into "the vault" hallway next to the unfamiliar one. I stood in front of "the vault" and stayed there for a few minutes, before going to wake the others this day I'm not sure why, but before I opened the door to "the vault" as we called it, I woke everyone else up.

It must've looked strange to anyone else. Seven teenagers, six of whom are girls, in front of a door that hadn't been open since before I was born.

The others seemed to be waiting for me. "It's locked. It's been locked for over fifteen years, and there's no key." But I tried anyway, and the door knob came off in my hand. Pep coughed slightly in a guilty manner. No excuses now. I wonder what Pep's been doing that requires a guilty cough and involves "the vault". You know what, I don't actually want to know about what Pep's guilty cough. Let's get on with this.

There they were. The uniforms. The weapons. An iron man suit Pep's size, a complex chemical formula, electric charges known as "widows sting", a bow and special arrows, Thor's hammer and helmet, Loki's scepter and helmet. I brushed off the vibranium shield, and for the first time in fifteen years, the cry to arms rang out. My dad's line, my legacy, my role, my team.

"Avengers Assemble."

I know that we're not really the Avengers, but close enough right? Besides, without the "real" Avengers we pretty much are all the world's got. Once we got our stuff, well, not OUR stuff, but…...WHATEVER! You get my point. Where was I?

Once we got, wait I'm not starting that again, once we were prepared, there! Okay, so, once we were prepared, we went back to the unfamiliar door. "Anybody got a light?" Laurie had a little fireball in her hand. "Thanks…"

They all scare me slightly, but I am the oldest, so I have to look calm in the face of danger and stuff. Besides, we're all scared of each other a little bit. But we're all friends here, usually. I think Laurie is the scariest of us all, she isn't even human, she's insane (truly), she has so much power but can't really control it, and she slips frequently into her own little world. On the next on the list of scary is the twins (they call themselves "double deadly") they may be the second youngest, but they are paranoid, always armed to the teeth, always serious, and not the best people you want to play a game with. Thalia is third on the scary list. She deserved this spot because she can control the weather and she is super stubborn about almost everything. Pep, the fourth on the list, is scary because she can do anything with machines, she also can come up with sarcastic remarks at any time, and she is the best cheerleader and gymnast in the state meaning she can get herself in any position, she will sneak up on you at will. Marie is actually not that scary unless she gets angry, at that point you better run as far and fast as possible, she also is extremely smart in science and creates chemistry experiments all year long, you can hear the booms all the way to California.

"Hold up bro, I got this." Marie pushed to the front of our mob, (stronger than she looks), and picked the lock in about three seconds. "It's still locked," she said, gesturing to a keypad. "Try 7eiuKk1Fvig….no? Okay then try, V-j_QE0pehA."

Well, it is Pep's house so why was I surprised?

"Why won't this stupid door open?"

"You're all trying too hard, back up….." Thalia….well, what can I say about Thalia….? She just rammed the handle and the door popped open. "Tah-dah!" She sounded genuinely pleased about this.

I didn't need to turn around to tell that the twins were facepalming so hard, and Laurie was probably rolling her eyes. Well, whatever works I guess.

"Hollyyy mother of Fury- What the Hutt?- Heimdall's eyeballs!- Per lovem, regnum!-What she said-mother of shakespeare- "

"What?" "I said "mother of Shakespeare."

"Not you, Thalia would you mind-"

"She said, "By Zeus' throne."

"But-"

"All myths are created equal."

With that ominous statement, we decided to take a look at what we were seeing here.

"SQUEEEEEEE! Books! 3!"

"Why are there Legos?"

"Toys?"

"Non sunt lusus, sed est altus urbanus interlocking ratio lateris."

"You keep telling yourself that, I'm going to look at these comic books…"

"Hey you're dad's in here….this is a kid's book about myths…"

"HOW DID WE NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS? THEY. MADE. MOVIES. THEYMADEMOVIES!"

"Aren't you surprised?"

"Deus est pater mendacii, sic nec vere."

"Old film reels! Hey, Steph…."

This is going to be a long night….

"Vindices Conenite!" Thalia was cracking up behind the fully completed Lego sets, then decided to translate her cousin for the rest of us….. "Avengers Assemble!"

When even the insane villain's daughter says "Avengers Assemble" you know the world's gonna need some major help and repairs before long… "Let's save the world and not break it in the process"- No superhero ever.

Yeesh, if the fate of the world, and possibly our parents weren't at stake, we probably would've stayed up all night doing research-(well, okay we were watching movies and messing around with Legos, but it was still educational)- anyway because, c'mon, it'd be so darn fun!

Things got even more fun when we dusted off an old case: Lego Marvel Super Heroes! It may have been only a two-player game originally, but never underestimate the technological genius of Pep Stark. "Playing by the rules? Ain't nobody got no time for that!" Cheater.

That led to some pretty interesting discussions, and a few pillow fights. Also some niceeee references, along with Maximum Overload, we had to warn Laurie not to get any funny ideas about Nornfrost.

My favorite lines? "I'm gonna spangle you till you see stars!" and "Why is it my tower can never stay in one piece?" We'll be inside joking about this till the end of time.

All seven of us just hanging out with some popcorn, a movie marathon, and a lot of laughing. Sometimes it seems like we're just normies. And in a way, we are. Granted, a strange way but still. I feel at home here where no normal person would be comfortable. My life is one of the stranger lives in the world, so it requires a stranger than normal person to handle it.

We're all at least part human, except Laurie, but none of us are perfect, we laugh at stupid stuff, we cry, and we screw up. Just cuz we're not "normal" doesn't mean we can't be a normal family.

Yep, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, just one, big, happy, super-powered, dysfunctional American family. I may not fit in elsewhere, but inside Avengers Tower? That's home, they're my family, and it's where I belong. This family will never ever leave me in the dust or throw me away like trash.

Right now I, a 16 year old, is the oldest intelligent life in Avengers Tower. I feel responsible for everyone else here, even the ones that don't seem to need help at living without parents. If any of them need help or guidance I am here for them, I hope they will accept me as someone to help them, I'll be here even if they don't, but it would be easier if they did accept me as someone to go to.

My turns over now so the twins will take over the captivating story now. I will talk to you later,but don't hold your breath it will a long time until that happens again.

Luke and Leah will take over the story now, which should be interesting to hear considering their point of view is extremely different than mine.


	3. Double Deadly

**Luke and Leah: Chapter 2 Double Deadly**

Hi, we are the twins, Luke - me - and Leah - my sister. We are extremely dangerous and extremely paranoid. Our parents are none other than Hawkeye and Black widow. I am a mix of my parents, but Leah is an almost perfect carbon copy of my mom.

Dreams and nightmares wrack people's sleep and they can't control it. Even if you are a light sleeper like Leah and me you still are plagued with nightmares and dreams. Just a little dream can turn out to be a horribly big nightmare, you seem to have no say in the way your nightmares will turn out and your dreams are no better.

As I said earlier Leah and I are light sleepers so when Stephanie got up in the other room we heard a rustle and our hands went under our pillows where we kept our arsenal of weapons. Stephanie told us that it was just her.

A few minutes later I heard Leah shriek and I whimpered we both were having a nightmare, probably the same nightmare. Mine was about us falling into a deep sleep and when we wake up everyone was gone except me and then I had to find who had taken them and then when I did I was too late and I had to watch them all be killed very slowly and very painfully. I am sure that Leah had a dream similar to mine. If you couldn't tell by our actions so far I will tell you that we are extremely paranoid you can't tell. In the course of the ten minute nightmare all of our weapons flew out from under our pillows and into the wall, even asleep we are deadly (though we can't aim as well in our sleep.)

In the other three bedrooms we could hear similar noises meaning that the others were also suffering their worst nightmares.

About five minutes or so later Stephanie came into our room saying, "The kids are the only people in the Tower now."

She forgot about our desire to protect ourselves against anything so the only reason she is not dead is because of the nightmare.

"Get up and get dressed now meet me in my room that I share with Pep." Stephanie face was a mask of calmness and supper leaderness (Yes, Leah I know that that word isn't real I made it up on the spot.) We quickly followed her orders changed out of our pajamas into our street clothes.

We met up again at the foot of Pep's bed. Pep glared at us when we woke her up (we had to invoke her real name Peperoni) but she complied to come with us and go wake the others. Pep got up and followed us docilely to the room with Marie and Thalia. Which was good because I'd rather have her be awake and following us than asleep and following us.

Marie was asleep in a book with her glasses on the ground and her hair like a fan around her head. When we got Marie up she still didn't have her glasses on so she asked Leah and me "Are you two in your pajamas or am I missing my gasses? Someone help me I really can't tell the difference even if I did have my glasses on. Help!"

" You don't have your glasses on and I don't know if they are wearing their pajamas or not." Thaia is a little obstinate. Actually she is very obstinate and annoying, but she's like a little sister I hear that they are annoying beyond all belief. If they are anything like little brothers I know they are annoying.

Leah here: are you still with us? If you are I'd be surprised because my brother could bore anyone to death.

Any way, when Marie asked that question I looked down at myself and saw my normal black suit exactly like Black Widow's ,a black jacket with a red stripe across the middle, a black quiver full of black arrows slung over my shoulder, around my waist was a belt with one knife at each hip and a holster behind my right hip knife, in my shin-high boots I had one knife at any cardinal directions in each boot so eight knives there, also I had other weapons on me but those were hidden. My brother wore a purple t-shirt with a purple leather jacket with a red stripe across the middle and a purple quiver full of purple arrows slung across over his shoulder. He wore a pair of jeans with a belt like mine with the same weapons as I did. Instead of boots like mine he had purple sneakers on.

"No, we are not wearing pajamas. We are wearing our normal clothes." Luke and I spoke in a quiet unwavering tone together that scared Stephanie, you could see her shiver, because it usually meant we were annoyed and when we were annoyed...well lets leave it at that and I am sure you can picture it.

" Okay, so where are my glasses and please don't be annoyed. You two are scary when you are annoyed." Marie looked around the table with her hands and soon found her glasses.

"One last person to wake up lets hope she isn't having night terrors again, she hexed me the last time I woke her up from a night terror. I bet she is, because I had night terrors for a short time tonight. It was only a few minutes long, but still it was scary the scariest thing I have ever had to see. I am rambling again aren't I? Did anyone else have night terrors tonight?" Thalia sounded pleased and cheerful to go into her cousin's room and wake Laurie, possibly getting hexed or worse.

"You are way too pleased for this it's makes me wonder what we will meet in that small room." Pep was Pep.

Luke was dreading going into Laurie's room because one time he went in there and got zapped by ice he was cold for weeks after that. I knew that because he never learned to hide his feelings from me, he can hide them very well from everyone else, just not me.

We walked into Laurie's room and all of us, except Thalia, just stopped and stared up at Laurie who was floating two to three feet off the bed and spinning slowly in a circle. As she spun she let loose her magic, so Stephanie ducked to avoid a shard of ice and Marie jumped sideways into Pep to avoid a shimmer which was a hex. At the same Pep jumped sideways to avoid a flying piece of hair, they both landed in a startled heap on the floor.I nimbly stepped backwards to avoid a small ball of flame that died out in front of my face, while Luke gasped and quietly slipped out of the room after nearly getting hit with a flying gold ribbon that will leave a red mark on you. Yet, Thalia walked forward dodging shimmers, ice, fire, and Laurie's really long hair-which was flying everywhere in the small room-and calmly told Laurie to wake up. Well, she sort of touched Laurie and said it in a annoying voice right into Laurie's ear.

When that happened Laurie's eyes snapped open, at the same time letting loose all her magic straight at Thalia, and screaming. Thalia calmy sidestepped and then waited for Laurie to stop screaming. Then it was all over as soon as it started and Laurie was sitting on her bed smiling sheepishly at us as she plucked the golden ribbon, which was zipping around the room, out of the air and rebraided it into her hair.

"Come on, lets go see what Stephanie wanted us for so early in the morning." my voice was cold and calculating. Luke looked at me and smiled it wasn't a smile most people would want to see it was definitely cold and gave a lot of meaning to the fact that he was extremely dangerous and he knew it.

Stephanie led us to all of our parents bedrooms and showed us how empty they were, yet there was no sign of a struggle. In my parents bedroom there was nothing knocked over, all of the weapons were still there, and the bed was made neatly just the way Mom and Dad like it. Luke slowly went over to Dad's quiver and took two arrows out of it, he tossed me one and kept the other. When I caught the arrow caught my breath, because it was his arrow that shoots out a net to tangle someone up with he called it "Leah's Net". He called it that because I have a way of tangling people up with my words.

Luke looked at me and said "'Luke's Claw' Dad always thought that I could claw my way to the heart of the problem easily. I wonder what could have happened to them."

I nodded and as I did so I saw six spiders all together. My instinct kicked in and I pulled out my gun and shot all of the spiders even while screaming at the top my lungs. At the same time Luke saw the the spiders and shot a rapid succession of six arrows at the siders.

" Sorry about that." we spoke in a dangerous tone that meant no one should ask questions. So naturally Thalia spent the entire way to "the vault" asking us questions about the spider incident. She stopped when I pulled my gun out and aimed it at her face, I think that scared her along with the arrow on Luke's bowstring aimed at her left calf a very painful injury.

At the door to "the vault" Stephanie said "It's locked. It's been locked for over fifteen years, and there's no key." Yet, she still opened the door and the door handle came off in her hand and Pep gave a guilty cough and a guilty start.

Now, I know where Pep was going all those times she hurried home after school without coming with us. She was in here doing something she shouldn't have been. Probably with her robotics expertise and some equipment.

We walked in the vault and everything we dreamed about was there I went straight to the widows sting devices and attached them to my belt, I won't try them out yet. My brother went over to the quiver that has programing arrows and slipped his normal quiver off his back and slipped that one on first replacing one of the arrows with the "Luke's Claw."

Everyone else scattered and picked up their parents legacies. Thalia was too small for her dad's helmet and so it fell into her eyes and she started crying about losing her parents. Stephanie came over and pushed her helmet back from her eyes. Stephanie knelt down in front of her and whispered words of encouragement while wiping away Thalia's tears.

Now I can't cry because I am not a crier. Yet, that is so cute and sad, I guess we forget that Thalia is only ten. Then again I am only eleven, but I am older than Luke, hah. That makes me feel better. (You're only older than me by two seconds!) Ignore Luke, he is crazy, it was 30 seconds.

After the tender moment Stephanie herded us out of "the vault" and to an unfamiliar hallway where Marie played with the lock and Thalia knocked the door down. Are you having fun yet? I know I am.

The room was filled with merchandise with everyone else's parents all over them apparently someone doesn't want our parents to get out very much. Thalia likes the Lego toys.

We are now going to play the Lego Marvel Super Heroes game. I hope Pep works her geniousness on this game so we all can play not by the rules. The rules make some things harder and others easier.

Even though I am paranoid,arachnophobic, and a twin I have a family and that family will never ever leave me alone. And Luke feels the same way. Isn't it great to be able to say that I am safe and happy on this couch, laughing and having so much fun.

While we were playing games, watching movies, reading comic books and being normal teenagers for a few hours, everyone noticed that Luke and I can laugh and aren't serious all the time. I will never want to leave this place it is so comforting for us all to be together in the world.

At the beginning I didn't trust but I must now because I am telling you things not even Luke knows.

I, Luke, am back, Yes I feel the same way even though I am the only boy in the building now. That's a strange coincidence in the first Avenger group there was only one girl, in the second generation of Avengers( we prefer to be called Legacies)there is only one boy in the group. Anyways… back to what I was saying… Here we have a sanctuary that no one can break, a place to be ourselves and to live in a complying society where no one will judge and we will all support each other in every way of life. We laugh like others and we certainly mess up like normal people. I hope that through this collection of our life you will see that even superheroes need to be normal every once in a while. I am easier to trust than Leah so even if I trusted you I couldn't be sure if Leah would ever trust you. I am glad she does because it makes my job easier I don't have to step around her in this story.

Hey, Leah, don't shoot me, slice me, or impale me, it's the truth and YOU KNOW IT! Get back here you little… sorry about that we were having a little discussion with my sister.

See you later in this strange medley of our life.

Hey Thalia it's your turn to tell the story. I don't want to stand here with the mic all day.


	4. The Thunderer, Unfortunately

**Chapter Three: The Thunderer, Unfortunately**

So if you couldn't guess already, which I hope you could, This is Thalia. And, I had no idea Leah was older. I thought it was Luke. Oh well. You probably don't care about that. Hey! Don't hit me, I'm fragile! Okay, I'm not. But I am younger than you guys. Regardless of how hard I hit.

Hi! Okay, So, back to the Vault? Really? Ohkay, then, fine. Yes, I spelt it weird. It's because I'm weird. The sooner we accept that fact, the sooner we can move on. So, I'm ten, Thor's my dad, and Laurie's my cousin, I live in Avengers Tower, and I am actually Brontophobic.

It means having brontophobia.

Fear of Thunder.

Go ahead, laugh. Done yet? Good. Brontosaurus means "thunder lizard." It's probably Latin. Sorry. But You're supposed to learn something new every day, and I thought I could help with that for today.

So the Vault had a ton of junk that I pretty much ignored. You'll find I'm good at ignoring things. Optomistic? Yes. Stubborn? Most certainly. Stupid? Oh, no. Maybe not like, intellectually genius, but not stupid. I got common sense, which is not very common at all if you haven't noticed all around you, and I've probably forgotten more about meteorology and astronomy than 99% of everyone ever, maybe not Galileo. But other than him.

They're yelling at me to get on with the story. Well, okay, I just thought that some exposition would be nice.

Yeah, I started crying. "If there's a bright side to this, I can't see one!" I have no idea what else I said. I kinda lost it. I don't remember anything Stephanie told me either. Because none of us took anything from the vault. Here's why.

"getoutgetoutyouneedtoleaverightnownotimegetoutgetoutgoawaygetbacknotimegonowneedtoleave…" Started running in my head. Creepy, huh? As if that wasn't enough, I felt like I was about to puke, and it had NOTHING to do with nerves. Trust me. "Hey, umm, look...We live here. I'm pretty sure that whatever's in that room won't kill us..so...We don't really need any of this right now, do we?"

"What if it's dead bodies?"

"Pep! If they're dead, they can't hurt us!"

"And wouldn't they smell weird?"

"Not if they've gone to just skeletons by now…"

"ARE YOU TRYING TO FREAK ME OUT BECAUSE IT'S WORKING!" I was not going to listen to this any more. I will admit, I dropped everything and RAN.

As I have exactly one hiding spot, it took all of two minutes to find me. I'm not telling you where it is, maybe I don't want YOU finding me. Maybe I'm brave. I'll get back to you on that one.

"Fine, I'm fine!" I proved that by kicking their butts at Lego Marvel!

For the record, "Avengers Assemble!" Are my two favorite words. (Pop-Tarts is hyphenated, making it one word. Like Spider-man, it's one word.) I've always wanted to be a superhero. I guess I'm getting a shot at it. No pun intended.

Two minutes to find me, considerably longer to convince me that we should go back in after I beat the game. Stupid cheats. But we did. I don't know if anyone else heard the "youneedtoleavegetoutnowrunwhileyoucangonowgonowrunrunrungetoutyouneedtoleavenowgogogo" the first time. Or the second time. I felt really sick now. Then it got dark.

I don't do well with the unknown. But at least I wasn't in my pajamas. That would be pretty...awkward. Navy skirt, red shirt, silver sweater and black boots. Rule number one: If it fits, wear it. Really? I don't care color wise. But it felt familiar, and with your whole life turning upside down, you take what you can get and RUN with it.

"Well, this is new. Either earth's Mightiest Heroes just got shorter, or…" Okay, the whole "short" thing? I hate it. I'm ten. Of course I'm short! If you're the youngest, EVERYONE'S taller than you! But you don't have to rub it in.

"Okay, who are you? Come out!" brainspark! "Unless you're scared of a bunch of kids…" I can be quite infuriating. Annoying. Irritating. However you want to say it.

I was severely ticked. And everyone could tell. How? Uh, because it's raining? And my eyes turned gray? Maybe that'd tip you off. I shot a look at my cousin. That stupid hat almost hid her eyes, but not well enough to hide the fact that they were slowly going from a bright green to a deep red. And also the temperature dropped significantly around her.

Isn't that odd? You can try so hard to not let your emotions get the best of you, but there's always something that's going to show how you really feel.

"I don't really have a name.." HOLY! Okay, now I was really going to puke. But he didn't need to know that. "Why? There wasn't one ugly enough?" Never underestimate the power of irritation. "Something like that."

If he was smiling, I was going to punch him. It? The voice was really honestly what I thought the devil would sound like. "Where are you?"

"Everywhere and nowhere." Because that's INCREDIBLY helpful! "Okay! Well, if you won't tell me your name, I'm just going to call you 'Sam'." And amazingly, he shut up. Thalia one, Sam zilch!

As anyone could tell you, it's impossible to watch every Marvel movie, read the books, or really finish anything in one day. And I am many things, but patient is not one of them.

"This is a COMPLETE waste of my time! We still have no answers!" Okay, not true. I learned a lot of stuff actually. Like how Laurie and I blend Marvel and Myths, why Marie and I both seem to like the "land of enchantment", (Look it up), but no IMPORTANT answers!

"I'm going to the basement," in a tone that clearly said, "If you value your life, don't follow me." Honestly I'm just not safe with my temper sometimes. Just one more reason why I shouldn't have the stupid hammer. One: it's only because my dad's not...here, two BRONTOPHOBIA and three, well, I can't think of it.

Anyway, guess who was the first person to follow me? The one who apparently doesn't value their life? Laurie. I don't know why, but it doesn't matter what language she's talking in, all I hear is english.

"You're not going to kill me, so don't even think it."

"Yeah, I know. Did the wall do something to deserve that?"

"It's mere existence annoys me."

She laughed. "Sarcastic much? Who frosted your pop-tarts with teenager this morning Sparks?"

"Shut up, witch princess."

"No. I'm never going to shut up. You need me here, and you know it, so don't give me that look."

I hate it when she's right. "You know, it's kinda dangerous to be down here."

"I brought backup. They care as much as you do. No use flying off the handle at them."

Was that supposed to be funny? I don't know. What I do know, is that if we were in the Hunger Games, We'd probably all pull 12's. Actually, according to Marie, if we were in Panem, we'd have overthrown the Capitol by now.

I have weird friends, I know. But on the plus side, I've got a magic hammer that has to count for something. And I guess weird friends are also on the plus side. They fit my personality very well, considering everything. And by everything I mean our parents, duh. And also a whole lot of luck, good and bad. Between the seven of us, (they all followed Laurie, who was following me) maybe we can do this thing…

Then it got really dark. I mean, we're underground, but all the lights in a room just don't burn out.

"Oops!"

"Oh, Laurie…"

"One light bulb, maybe my fault. Two, three, one room, okay. It's not just here."

Yeah. Evidently the whole country went dark. Good thing we've already established that doors are breakable, or we'd be locked in. This is why electronics are stupid, and incompetent. So unreliable! And very convenient so I am torn between banning them and require them all the time in my little world.

"Guys, if the doorbell rings, everybody duck. This is starting to feel like Clue…"

"Why'd you have to bring that up?"

"AND THERE ARE TWO DEAD BODIES IN THE STUDY!"

"SHHH!"

"Now it's Clue."

"Clue gives me nightmares some days, but somedays it makes me laugh so hard I am on the floor."

Scratch that. Weird friends are not a plus. At least, not right now. They have very scary thoughts in almost any bad or threatening situation. We also have strange tastes in movies so the references we make are not all comprehensible to normal people.

People joke about the stuff nightmares are made of. If you ever use that phrase again, just like if you're still laughing at brontophobia, I will find you. And I will kill you. I can too. I've got help. Because whatever you're calling the stuff of nightmares is NOTHING compared to the real thing. Absolutely nothing. And I can say that because I've seen it, and I'm lucky enough to still be here.

I really can not talk about what THEY were. The closest I can get is if someone made the smell of rotting trash, Amy's scream with the second trick in "A Good Man Goes to War", the feeling of complete hopelessness, and somehow crossed that with an inside-out rhinopotamus, you'd have nothing like it. But maybe you can get what I'm saying here. Take ALL the negatives. Pile them up. Make them solid. Add dementors for fun. Paint it black. If you're not running, you should be.

Am I brave? I couldn't tell you earlier. I still can't. There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity. I cross it all the time. Because I'm not running. I'm standing right here. And I will NEVER run. I will not bow. And I will not yield. Anything I am, it's stubborn.

And my friends are my family. They're standing too. No one is running, although I think we all screamed. If it's stupid to fight, then we're all world class idiots. But if my genius friends are idiots? Maybe it's not a bad thing to be.

was it brave, what I did?

Maybe it was.

Bravery isn't something huge. It's knowing what's right, and then doing it. Not for reward or recognition. Just because you know it's right.

Maybe being brave is simply not knowing you're in danger. Or knowing you're not in danger. It's not bravery that sent me for my cousin. It's not bravery that sent her to me. I think it's love. Love, and courage, and faith and all the kinds of wonderful things that maybe I don't understand.

But I will. And I think I understand a lot more than your average ten year old.

I'll see you later. I can't talk anymore. I'm handing the mic to my cousin here. Are you running? Good. Stay there. We need all the friends we can get. That's why we're telling you what really happened.

To the worlds, all of them, we're criminals, monsters, freaks of nature, dangerous, and pure evil. But to you, maybe we can be heroes. Maybe.

You're still here because you can't run. If you see one of these things, please don't panic. Don't be scared. Laugh. Sing. Recite the Declaration of Independance. Or pray. Quote the Bible, if you're that kind of person. But at all cost don't be scared. They feed off negative emotions 'till you're all drained. Also, if they ask you to do something don't let them have it. Everything hinges on your emotions and strength, don't give in and don't give up.

Just hold on. You can't be scared.

Not if you know help's coming. We'll be there. Faster than you think we will not let the world be destroyed by anyone. The Legacies are here to stay and we will not give up and we will not run, if needed we will be here waiting to save the world.

Okay, Laurie, take the stupid mic. I think I'm gonna cry. Is anyone listening?


	5. Oh, Humanity Glad I

**Chapter Four: Oh, humanity. Glad I'm not involved.**

If it's any consolation, I'm listening. (BOOM! Two references, one sentence!) I kinda have to, since I'm right here, but I'm listening.

Three things you should know about me.

I'm not at all human.

It's my birthday.

I'm falling.

Okay, not really falling. Feels like it. If I do have nightmares, that's what they're about. Falling…

So the kids are the only ones in the Tower now. And that's a bad thing…? Okay! I get it!

For all you lovely people out there, I did not have a breakdown in my dad's room. I grabbed a purple box. It had my name on it and it is my birthday. Ha! Turning 13 on Friday, January 13th. Don't have to be a genius. And I was completely fine until the freakazoids went after Thalia.

I could watch the world burn, but touch my family and I swear by whatever deity/deities you believe in… I'm just going to let that threat hang there for a while.

Anyway, she's being over dramatic as usual. The odds of you running into those things are...right around zero. Still, they're pretty...repugnant. I do speak english, duh. but where's the logic in any language where you can use the same word four times in a row and still have the sentence make sense? "All the faith he had had had had no effect on his life" What the? No! It makes no sense! Seriously! Humanity really can be quite...idiotic, moronic, dull, and perplexing.

As you can probably tell, this story is a bit confusing. But now that we've deprived the ADD ten year old of narration maybe...Although we did give said narration to the insane one. Who decided that?

(Nope! I've got the mic now, you have to listen to me talk! Haha. Should've thought of that sooner!)

So honestly, my first reaction to the fact that the insomniac Whovian was now the oldest person around was "Yeah and I'm Zeus."

Really, I held it together until she started crying. Suddenly I felt very...perturbed. Pretend you're me for a second. You're already completely out of your mind, trusted adults just went "poof", and now the one child in any world that means anything personally, who you've tried so hard to protect your whole life, to the point where you're more SIBLINGS than cousins, to the extent that strangers actually refer to you as "sisters", is crying about the unfairness of life. The freaks deserved what was coming.

Suddenly the Universe just DECIDES to pull off possibly the strangest disappearing act in all of antiquity, but no, that's not enough. LET'S KIDNAP THE TEN YEAR OLD'S PARENTS, THE REST OF EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES, AND TRY TO KILL EVERYONE! I think I may have just broken something. Or several somethings.

Well, ha ha universe. You just remember who you're messing with here. Because I swear, on fish fingers and custard, (what the heck were you thinking Steph?) that if you even THINK about hurting my cousin...well. You're going to have to get through me.

Oh, and that goes for all my family, which has now become the other kids. By the end of this story, that word will no longer apply to us. KIDS shouldn't have to save the world. KIDS don't have to literally face their fears. The whole thing is just so bloody unfair…

Don't worry. I'm not going to go all "world domination" on you.

"Getting through you? Honestly, if someone looked at you the wrong way, you'd snap in half!"

I really hate this guy. "SHUT UP! AND WHILE YOU'RE AT IT, GET OUT OF MY HEAD AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"...Are you okay?" Marie was looking at me from behind a book, (as usual).

"Fine. I'm fine." They already think I'm crazy. Someone is finding this funny...Sam.

"Oh, you poor misguided magical mischief maker. I don't think I can EVER leave you alone."

"So, how much of my life has gone freakily wrong because of you? Choose your next words with extreme caution, or I can arrange a flying leap off the Bifrost. Which I do not recommend."

I hate him so much. And now he's trying to get me to…? What exactly? Sympathise? Join the "Dark Side"? Well!

Not exactly out of the realm of possibility. I mean, you have got to respect the planning and timing that went into this. But I decided to ignore the jab for now.

I have a habit of finding the exact information that is the worst for me.

So why was I surprised to walk past a computer and have it suddenly flash? Because this sort of whacked-out freaky (will someone out there please start humming "Twilight Zone" theme?) stuff just should not happen today.

The sun was coming up. How DARE the sun shine today? My stupid birthday for once could have been okay, but of course not. People are MISSING, Thalia's crying, there's a voice in my head and the fate of the world could very well hang on the balance, maybe even how well I balance. And this stupid SHIELD information was just making it worse.

One more thing I hate. There are very few of these, actually. I absolutely HATE when people write me into their plans. "Hey guys? You might want to look at this…" Well, that went over like a ton of bricks.

Apparently SHIELD was making plans ever since we could walk. Maybe before. "I officially dislike SHIELD."

I, for one sympathised with Marie. "Hail Hydra!" Then I caught the look on Stephanie's face. "Kidding! Please don't kill me."

Oh, gods-please not now! They need me here! Oh, D'Arvit. Okay, well…

"I'll be back…"

Welcome to my nightmares. Imagine being completely alone in the world, but not this world. Or any other realm that I'm aware of. You haven't moved, but everything is gone. All white, but not like heaven would be. It hurts. Everything hurts. You are completely immobile. Unable to breathe, think, anything. Until you wish you were dead, because then at least it wouldn't hurt anymore. Then, well, can you call it a "flash of darkness?"

Now, picture this: (this is the best I can do. Being a silvertongue helps sometimes, but unless you've been there, you have no idea.) let's say there's a TV for every channel, movie, show, play, etc...and a radio for every noise imaginable. Not just songs, but all noises. All at one, full blast. Hurting yet? And you can do NOTHING. Not scream, cover your ears, blow the place sky high, or anything else.

Some small part of you is dimly aware that it's all in your head. But it's all foggy, distant, garbled. You can scream now, if you'd like. So, naturally, you do.

And I'm in a corner again. Crouching, head down, hands over my ears. This is not uncommon. I'm always wearing this black leather jacket, I've completely zipped it up effectively smothering the green underneath. It's colder now too. So my skin has probably taken the same shade as my jeans...blue.

Breathe. Breathe. You're fine. Breathing is rather important, yes? My heart's still pounding though. I'm safe, I've got my friends, nothing is going to hurt me now. I. Am. Completely. Fine.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Trying for a smile… "Thanks Steph. I'm fine."

"You know, you'd think someone directly related to a GOD of lies would be better at it. You are clearly not fine and I don't care how bad it is, you can tell me and we'll fix it, okay?"

I don't deserve the friends I have. But before my head could do anything about anything, my mouth was running off. See, Thalia thinks more with her heart, while I think more with my head, but you really need both, don't you? I spilled my guts out, and the impressive thing?

Thalia knows I turn blue. No one else does. And Stephanie didn't care. She just sat there and listened while I was crying so badly. I think I was actually dehydrated by the end of the conversation.

"You know something?"

"Seriously? I know lots of somethings..but tell me something."

"Yeah. You are crazy. And brilliant. And y'know, important too. I've seen how Thalia looks up to you. I've seen what you can do when you don't mean it.I don't care if they have an army. By ACCIDENT, you're already stronger than them. If we weren't on the same team, I'd be terrified of you. But I'm not, because you, listen, this is important, because YOU are a good person, no matter what 'Sam' tries to tell you. As I've mentioned, your dad is a god of lies. Sam has been lying his head off to you, trying to get you to stop fighting, hasn't he? Well, I know you, and I know that won't work. Now, we've got some extraterrestrials that are not nearly as constructive as you, and we could use some help."

"Do you really think so?" She's smiling again.

"Laurie, I absolutely don't think so. I know so."

Well, Holy Aisle 13.

Of course, that couldn't last.

"My simple little witch princess-"

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL ME THAT DON'T YOU DARE EVER AGAIN USE THAT NAME! Thalia calls me that, and no one else."

"Okay then Miss Sensitive. There is a war coming. You make sure you're on the right side."

I exchanged a glance with Stephanie, then the rest of them.

"One: I already am, and two: if you wanted me on your side-" I looked around again- "then you should have left my family alone. All of my family. But since you didn't"-Insert evil grin- "I will find you. But I don't think I can kill you. I can, however, make you WISH you were dead you pathetic excuse for life, and a terrible waste of atoms!"

"And she WILL NOT fight alone."I felt a sudden rush of gratitude for Pep.

"She'll do it too! She is crazy as you very well know!" Thalia piped up helpfully.

"I think I may go crazy if you try this again," Marie winked at me.

The twins, using the odd way they have were smiling evilly. They are a VERY determined pair.

So look out world, because here I am, and I've got backup. Unless you're prepared to take down some of the most powerful beings all all the realms, I hope you'll learn the lesson. Because although I wasn't born here, and I'm not related to these incredibly amazing fighters, the fact still stands.

If you make this personal, you will live to regret the day you were born.

I've got nine worlds of hurt right now, but six people at my back who would gladly help me rain the fury of the gods on your head. Watch your back…

Oh! The birthday present, right.

It's a dagger. It's MY dagger. I know because I designed it, and I was the only one who could see it. That second fact was only realised after Thalia wondered why an empty box would make a gift. They can see it now,the Legacies, but until I'm using it, the weird shadows can't.

Ha. Search me all you want but you'll never find a weapon. Very clever! I am officially armed and dangerous.

Hello Sam. You'd better be scared.

I'm a very scary person.

You've met my dad, right?

Well, now I have something to prove.

Watch

Your

Back.


	6. You're So Punny

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Hold up everybody," Thalia announced suddenly. "I feel like something..." she put on a pair of sunglasses, "PUN intentionally THOR able is about to happen!" *groan* Jamie got a look on her face. /p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Of course I loved The Avengers! I'd be absolutely.." her own sunglasses came on, "FURYious if they didn't let me watch it again!" Marie was laughing by this point. And now Laurie has a look on her face.../p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Y'know, Thor's pretty dramatic with the lightning and all, I think we should keep this party a bit more..." (where is everyone getting the sunglasses?) "LOKI!" /p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh! Low-key...I get it!" "Don't you dare say it, Luke, if you say it, so help me..."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE!" /p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""GAHHHHH!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Marie's looking for her sunglasses. "Some people liked the Avengers, but I'd say it was...MARVELous!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Seems our differences are pretty..." You knew Pep's was coming, right? "STARK!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Oh no." "Oops..." Stephanie's poked her head in the door way and has got her "ohmycrapwhytheheckdoIeven-youknowwhatscrewthisI'mgoingtoGalifrey" face on. /p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""HAWK ward!" "OMIGAHH...Luke I'm going to kill you."/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Pep's still trying..."Stark? Get it? Seems our differences are pretty Stark?/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"*looks up* Sunglasses.../p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" /p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" "ROGER that!"/p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" /p  
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" /p 


End file.
